Muhlis Akarsu

Muhlis Akarsu — Biography

Muhlis Akarsu was a Turkish Alevi minstrel (âşık), bağlama player and songwriter, born on 20 February 1948 in the village of Minarekaya in the Kangal district of Sivas province. His style was shaped by earlier folk poets such as Davut Sulari, Mahzuni Şerif, Feyzullah Çınar and Daimi, and he became known for his distinctive vocal delivery. He released his first single in 1965, settled in Istanbul in the early 1970s, and gained wider recognition through radio and television appearances, developing a protest-song strand shaped by the turbulent politics of the era.

His self-titled album series, begun in 1974, grew to eight releases by 1978, alongside dozens of further singles. In 1983 he launched the "Muhabbet" album series with Arif Sağ and Musa Eroğlu, regarded as a landmark of modern Turkish folk music, which grew to seven albums by 1989. In the same years he recorded joint albums with artists such as Mahsuni Şerif, Ali Ekber Çiçek and Mehmet Erenler, released over a dozen solo albums, and toured extensively at home and abroad.

In July 1993 he traveled to Sivas with his wife for the Pir Sultan Abdal festival; on 2 July, arsonists set fire to the Madımak Hotel where they were staying, and he died in the attack together with his wife and more than thirty other writers and performers. Over his career he had produced more than forty singles, four LPs, thirty-eight albums and hundreds of deyiş poems; a posthumous album followed, and cultural centers and memorial events held in his name still commemorate him today.